HP govt slashes VAT on fuel by 1%

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], Dec 30 : Days after coming to power in Himachal Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on Saturday notified its decision of decreasing Value Added Tax (VAT) by 1 percent on petrol and diesel.
Although the decision was taken by the previous Congress government before the assembly election, it was not implemented due to the Model Code of Conduct.
Currently, the state has imposed 27 percent VAT on petrol and 16 percent on diesel.
The revised rates after reduction in the VAT would be Rs 68.32 per litre for petrol and Rs 56.32 for diesel.
The Centre in October had announced that the excise duty on fuel would be cut, citing that the move was an attempt to "cushion the impact of rising international prices of crude petroleum oil, and petrol and diesel on their retail sale prices".
Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has also asked the states to slash the Value-Added Tax (VAT) on fuel by 5 percent. (ANI)